I Pledge Allegiance to ---

Submitted by Renox (United States), Dec 16, 2021 at 23:48

At over $100 a hardback copy (under $35.00 paperback) I would have expected "Moving in and out of Islam" to be a tome of some.....I don't know.......depth, I guess. But I should have known the subject matter itself precludes any kind of serious consideration. As Dr. Pipes points out, the more interesting passages are those of people who have moved from Christianity into Islam.....and then back again, with an emphasis on what it was that brought them back to their original Christianity. What was it about Islam that they found so repugnant that they decided to re-convert back to Christ's church?

And this is the problem I have with the book. I found it frivolous: Is this a subject worthy of academic consideration?. For example, one reason given by a "returnee" (to Christianity) was the great "pressure" to be a "good Muslim". Really? Then why did this person convert to Islam in the first place? To be a "bad" Moslem?

After reading some additional passages discussing why newly minted Muslims return to Christianity, I was struck by how much it sounded like a bunch of spoiled, whiny teenagers complaining having to go to church or refusing to clean up their bedrooms. The reasons for returning to Christ were positively silly – absurd. "Islam didn't want you to enjoy life at all" is typical of the kinds of excuses given to give up on Islam. Really? You converted to Islam to "enjoy life? Gee. That sounds like you had a real epiphany there.

Not a single "returnee" from Islam sounded like he had bothered to investigate what it meant to convert to Islam in the first place. Hadn't even bothered.....hadn't even thought about it. Hadn't even gone to Google to do some basic research. I'm sorry to say this, but to me, these people sounded like they all suffered a touch of insanity to one degree or another. Check out YouTube. There you can find samples of people publicaly converting to Islam. Each and every one of them gave me the creeps as I watched.

I must admit a certain distrust of people who "convert". I distrust their sincerity or their mental balance. If your life depends on it, that's one thing.......I'd probably convert myself.....I am no martyr. But if someone tells me that at age 30 or so he suddenly saw the light and is changing religions, I can't help wonder how sincere he was about his original religious beliefs in the first place. I'd wager he wasn't sincere at all.

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